Today is the last day of in-person early voting. Find your correct polling booth here. Check out CityBeat’s endorsements here.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is under fire for
alleged voter suppression once again. In response to recent court
rulings on provisional ballots, Husted sent out a directive on Nov. 2 that shifts the burden of proper identification during the provisional ballot process from poll workers to voters. The directive may not even be legal, according to a lawsuit
quickly filed by voters’ rights activists in response to the new rule:
“Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.181(B)(6) provides that, once a voter casting a
provisional ballot proffers identification, ‘the appropriate local
election official shall record the type of identification provided, the
social security number information, the fact that the affirmation was
executed, or the fact that the individual declined to execute such an
affirmation and include that information with the transmission of the
ballot.’”

President Barack Obama was at the University of Cincinnati yesterday to make a closing argument
to Ohioans. In his speech, Obama compared his own ideas and policies to
those of Bill Clinton, while comparing Mitt Romney’s ideas and policies
to those of George W. Bush. With just two days of voting left, all eyes
are on Ohio as it could play the decisive role in the presidential election. In aggregate polling, Obama is up 2.9 points in Ohio and 0.4 points nationally. FiveThirtyEight, The New York Times’ election forecast model, has Obama at an 86.8 percent chance to win Ohio and an 86.3 percent chance to win the election.

Early voters packed polling places around the state
yesterday. The line around the Hamilton County Board of Elections
wrapped around the entire building for much of the day. Butler County had a lot of early voters
as well. Early voting was only available to all Ohioans yesterday
thanks to a lawsuit from Obama and Democrats, which opened up in-person
early voting during the weekend and Monday before Election Day despite strong opposition from state Republicans.

Early results from air quality tests show no signs of pollution near shale gas drilling wells. But the results are early, and more tests are ongoing. CityBeat wrote in-depth about fracking and concerns surrounding the process here.

The deadline for Ohio’s exotic animal registration is today.
The new requirement came about after an Ohio man released 50 exotic
animals, including some dangerous predators, shortly before committing
suicide in 2011.

Event to explain CPD priorities, establish line with gay community

The city and gay rights organizations will host an LGBT
public safety forum tonight. The partnership between the city of
Cincinnati, Equality Cincinnati and the Human Rights Campaign of Greater
Cincinnati (HRC) is meant to encourage and improve relations between
the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) and the gay community.

Lisa Davis, spokesperson for CPD, says the idea for
the public forum came about when Andrew Winters, a diversity co-chair at
HRC, ran into Police Chief James Craig at the Coffee Emporium coffee shop in Over-the-Rhine. Winters
introduced himself to Craig, and Craig told Winters he was interested in
addressing the LGBT community to open some dialogue and gather
feedback.

One of the forum's purposes will be to explain CPD priorities. As an example, Davis explained why police might take
an hour and a half to respond to a call at a gay club.She
said that kind of delay is likely related to CPD's priority system. In the example of the gay club, perhaps someone was assaulted, but the suspect already left. If that
happens, CPD would prioritize a case in which a suspect is still on the
scene.

Davis hopes the explanations will ease concerns of police
discrimination in the LGBT community. On the other side, she says the forum could help
CPD gather feedback and learn about any overlooked problems.

CPD will also name Angela Vance as an LGBT liaison.
Davis says Vance will be open to calls from anyone in the LGBT community
to look into special events, collect information on crimes and review
possible cases of police mistreatment. For these cases, Vance will help
victims file complaints and provide guidance.

The public forum will take place at 6 p.m. tonight at the
Mayerson Room in the School for Creative and Performing Arts, 108 West
Central Parkway.

On National Coming Out Day, Obama campaign releases new ad featuring LGBT activist

On National Coming Out Day, Cincinnati’s only openly gay
city councilman told CityBeat that equality for America’s Lesbian Gay
Bisexual and Transgendered people would take a hit under a President
Mitt Romney.

“On day one (of his presidency) he (Romney) could hurt gay
families by reinstating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and hurt security for our
country,” Seelbach said. “We need as many people serving as possible.”

Councilman Chris Seelbach spoke to CityBeat as he waited to vote early outside of the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

Proponents of the measure that prevented openly gay
service members from serving in the military have said repealing Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell would damage the country’s combat-readiness.

A study published by the Williams Institute at University of California Los Angeles Law School in September found that there has been no overall negative impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, recruitment, retention or morale.

Seelbach said there would be a stark contrast for LGBT
people under President Barack Obama and his GOP rival. He pointed to the
Obama administration’s refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in
court; his vocal approval of same-sex marriage; anti-discrimination
measures signed by the president that, among other things, give same-sex
partners the right to visit their loved ones in the hospital and make
medical decisions.

He said the next president would also likely have the
opportunity to appoint new justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court
will likely decide the fate of California’s Proposition 8, which
outlawed gay marriage.

"If you care about equality, you've got to vote," Seelbach said. "The easiest way to vote is to vote early."

The Obama campaign in Ohio plans to release a new online ad touting the president’s accomplishments for LGBT people.

The ad, made available to CityBeat, features Zach Wahls, a
gay-rights activist born to a lesbian couple via artificial
insemination. Wahls is known for his testimony before the Iowa House
Judiciary Committee against a constitutional amendment that would ban
gay marriage in that state.

In the ad, Wahls touts the president’s accomplishments and exhorts Ohioans to reelect Obama.

“We want to make sure that we’re all doing everything we
can this fall to get out, register voters, canvass, knock on doors, get
our family members and friends out to the polls so that we can re-elect
the best president this country has ever seen on LGBT rights,” Wahls
said.

The vice presidential debate is tonight. The debate will
be between Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan. After the last
debate, some pundits are saying Biden needs to win this one to slow down
the Romney-Ryan momentum. But keep in mind political scientists say
debates have little to no electoral impact in the long term, so it’s
possible most of the post-debate polling in favor of Mitt Romney could
indicate a temporary bounce. The debate is at 9 p.m. and will be aired on all the big networks. The full schedule of presidential debates can be found here.

Romney might campaign in Lebanon, Ohio this weekend. Ohio
is considered a must-win for the Republican presidential candidate. Even
with a post-debate bounce, Romney still looks to be the underdog in
Ohio. The latest poll from NBC, Wall Street Journal and Marist shows
Romney down six points to Obama among likely voters in the state with a
margin of error of 3.1. The poll does show the race tightening from the
eight-point gap measured on Oct. 3, but it’s apparently not enough. By
itself, the poll could be considered an outlier and too optimistic for
Obama, but it actually echoes the latest CNN poll and aggregate polling
taken after the debate. In aggregate polling, Romney is down 1.6 points
in Ohio after the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll. Before the latest poll, he was
down 0.8 points.

A new poll shows a slim majority of Ohioans now support
same-sex marriage. The poll found 52 percent of Ohioans support it,
while 37 percent want it to stay illegal. The poll gives a shot of
optimism to Freedom to Marry Ohio, an amendment that would legalize
same-sex marriage in the state. Supporters say the amendment could be on
the Ohio ballot as soon as November 2013.

State Auditor Dave Yost wants to put the attendance fraud
investigation in context. When talking with Gongwer yesterday, Yost
explained that the potential data rigging going could have cost schools additional funding for at-risk students: “I suspect we
probably have schools in Ohio that ought to be getting that extra money
for those extra services to help those schools that are most at risk,
and that money is not flowing because the data is not accurate.”

Will county budget cuts hurt public safety? As the county
commissioners try to sort out the budget without raising taxes, Hamilton County’s sheriff
department could see some cuts, according to Commissioner Greg Hartmann. He insists the cuts will not hurt public safety, however.

A Nuns on the Bus tour is encouraging voters to support
politicians that provide for the poor. The tour will avoid being
partisan and mentioning candidates' names, but the general vibe of the tour implies
support for Democratic candidates.

Josh Mandel, Ohio’s Republican candidate for the U.S.
Senate, has gotten another rating from PolitiFact Ohio. This one is
“Mostly False” for Mandel’s claim that opponent Democratic Sen. Sherrod
Brown has missed more than 350 votes in the Senate. Brown has only
missed 21 out of 1,779 votes since he joined the Senate, and he hasn’t
missed any votes this year. The Mandel campaign claims the ad was
keeping track of Brown’s entire public career, but 83 of the votes Brown
missed in that time period were in 2000, when Brown was in a car accident
in which he broke his ribs and vertebrae.

The NBC/WSJ/Marist poll also had some bad news for Mandel.
He was found to be down 11 points to Brown among likely voters.
Mandel is now down 4.2 points in aggregate polling.

The right-leaning Tax Foundation ranked Ohio No. 39 for
business tax climate. The conservative research group gave Ohio good
marks for unemployment insurance and the corporate tax rate, but it
criticized the state for its individual income tax and property tax. New
York, New Jersey and California were at the bottom of the overall
rankings, and Wyoming, South Dakota and Nevada were at the top.

Jobless claims fell to 339,000 — the lowest in four and a half years.
Coupled with last week’s employment numbers, the news indicates that an
economic recovery is truly underway. However, jobless claims are
very volatile, so it’s uncertain whether the drop will stick.

New poll shows slim Ohio majority embraces gay marriage

For the first time, a Washington Post poll shows 52 percent of Ohioans support same-sex marriage, and only 37 percent say it should be illegal.

With a margin of error of 4.5 points, it’s possible the
September poll could be too optimistic, but the poll shows a sharp
contrast to 2004, when 62 percent of Ohioans voted in favor of a
constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman.

The poll also found support for same-sex marriage growing
in Florida and Virginia. In Florida, 54 percent support same-sex
marriage, while 33 percent say it should be illegal. In Virginia, 49
percent support same-sex marriage, and 40 percent want it to be illegal.
Both are increases in support in comparison to previous years.

The news comes at a time when FreedomOhio is stepping up
its efforts to get an amendment legalizing same-sex marriage in Ohio on the
2013 ballot.

CORRECTION:
This article originally credited Equality Ohio for the amendment. The
amendment push is being led by FreedomOhio, a different pro-gay
marriage organization.

The campaign for Freedom to Marry Ohio, the amendment that would legalize same-sex marriage, previously touted
an economic study that showed Ohio could bring in $100-126 million of
economic growth within three years of legalizing same-sex marriage and
sustain 1,160-1,450 Ohio jobs. In Hamilton County, same-sex marriage
legalization would bring in $8.3 million. However, the study did not
take into account a phenomenon dubbed “marriage tourism,” which involves
same-sex couples visiting a state mostly to get married; so it’s
possible the economic impact could be even greater than the study
suggests.

The study also found that more than 9,800 out of more than
19,600 same-sex marriage couples in Ohio would marry within three years
if it was legal, and nearly 900 out of nearly 1,800 in Hamilton County
would marry within three years.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg previously touted
same-sex marriage legalization for its economic boost to his city. He said it had
produced $259 million in economic growth in New York City.

Mandel is being taken to court by liberal blog
Plunderbund. The blog claims Mandel has made it extra difficult to get
public records.

Preliminary data for Ohio schools was released yesterday.
Some data is still being held back while an investigation into
fraudulent reporting from some schools is finished, but the data gives some insight into how
schools performed during the 2011-2012 school year. The data can be
found here. From a local angle, the data shows Cincinnati Public
Schools (CPS) did not meet “adequate yearly progress,” a federal standard that
measures progress in student subgroups, such as minority groups; but CPS
did meet standards for “value-added growth,” which measures the
expected progress in state testing for all students between the third
and eighth grades.

City Council approved the $29 million financing plan for
the streetcar yesterday. The plan will use $15 million from the Blue Ash
airport deal to move utility lines and pipes. The city claims the $15
million, which was originally promised to neighborhood projects, will
be reimbursed by Duke Energy once the city settles a conflict with the
energy company. Duke and the city are currently arguing over who has to
pay to move the utility lines and pipes.

An Ohio state representative is asking the federal
government to monitor the election more closely. Rep. Alicia Reece, a
Cincinnati Democrat, is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to send monitors
to the state to ensure no funny business goes on in voting booths on
Nov. 6. The request is partly in response to a recent court ruling
that forces Ohio to count provisional ballots if the ballots were
brought around by poll worker errors.

Ohio’s ability to stop political lies was upheld
yesterday. The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes
(COAST) tried to put an end to the government power, which COAST claimed
was censorship, by taking it to court, but a U.S. judge upheld the
ability. The judge, who is a former chairman of the Hamilton County
Republican Party, said COAST did not properly display that its speech was held
down by the law. Considering some of COAST’s tweets, the judge is
probably right.

Ohio might expand Medicaid, but not to the extent asked
for by Obamacare. That’s what the state’s Medicaid director said
yesterday, anyway. A previous study found Medicaid expansions improved and might
have saved lives in other states, and other studies have found Medicaid
expansions may save the state money by cutting uncompensated costs.

Gov. John Kasich signed a series of bills shoring up
Ohio’s public pension system yesterday. The laws will cut benefits
and raise eligibility requirements, but state officials insist the new
laws will mostly affect future retirees.

NASA wants samples from Mars, and it has a plan. The new plan may require a robot-to-human hand-off in space.

A federal judge ruled that in-person early voting in Ohio
must be extended to include the weekend and Monday before Election Day
for all voters. The ruling is a result of President Barack Obama’s
campaign team and the Democrats filing a lawsuit against Secretary of
State Jon Husted to extend early voting. Attorney General Mike DeWine
has vowed to appeal the ruling. Republicans have consistently blocked
all attempts to expand early voting in Ohio, citing costs and racial
politics.

Cincinnati manufacturing is on a big rebound, according to
a new survey. The Cincinnati Purchasing Management Index, which is used
to measure manufacturing in the area, showed some decline in July, but
it is now bouncing back. The news could indicate a wider economic
recovery.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in town Saturday.
During his speech, Romney pointed fingers to “cheaters” like China,
which Romney believes is unfairly manipulating its currency. (China has
not been manipulating its currency for some time now.) Romney also
rolled out his plan to restore America’s economy by emphasizing small
businesses and cutting government spending. But the Brookings Institute
says the unemployment rate would be at 7.1 percent if it wasn’t for
government cuts passed by state and federal governments in the past few
years. Romney also wants to cut back on the Environmental Protection Agency, which he says is
hurting local jobs with too many regulations.

Competition in the Greater Cincinnati area has allowed
some cities to pay less for trash hauling services. Rumpke previously
held a stranglehold on the business, but that seems to be changing with the arrival of legitimate competitors — such as CSI and Forest Green.

The Obama campaign will open its offices in
Cincinnati tomorrow. The Obama team promises to use the offices for a
large ground game.

Rep. John Boehner of Ohio seems to have his geography
confused. At a speech, he said he wants senatorial candidate Josh Mandel
of Ohio to win to "run Harry Reid back to Nevada.” Reid is a U.S.
senator for Nevada.

U.S. home prices rose in July by the most in six years.
The news could indicate a recovery in the housing market. The housing
crash is generally attributed as the primary cause of the Great
Recession.

The Democratic National Convention is heading into day two
today. The convention is touting the new Democratic platform, which now
includes support for same-sex marriage. At the Ohio delegation in the
convention, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is often cited as a
potential presidential candidate for the 2016 election, criticized Kasich.

Voters First is suing to get the original language
restored on its redistricting amendment, which will appear on the November ballot as Issue 2. The organization succeeded in
gathering enough signatures for its ballot initiative by July 28, but
the Republican-led Ballot Board, which is chaired by Ohio Secretary of
State Jon Husted, changed the language in a way that makes the amendment
less specific and more confusing, according to Voters First. If the
amendment is approved by voters, the amendment will make it so the
redrawing of district borders is handled by an independent citizens
commission, instead of the committee of politicians that handle the
issue every 10 years under the current system. CityBeat previously
covered the issue here. In Cincinnati, redistricting placed Warren
County in the city’s district, leading to less emphasis on urban votes,
according to MapGrapher:

The Cincinnati Enquirer has some speculation as to
why University of Cincinnati President Greg Williams recently resigned.
Apparently, Williams did not get along with the Board of Trustees.

A state grant is helping out LGBT homeless youth in
Cincinnati. The grant, a total of $275,000, will go to Lighthouse Youth
Services. The organization will put the money in its Lighthouse
on Highland facility in Clifton, which provides street outreach, indoor
and overnight services.

The federal government will provide aid to 75 Southwest
Ohio medical practices. The program could bring $10 million in Medicare
funds every year to the area. With the extra money, medical practices
are expected to provide additional services.

Ohio courts are conflicted on whether or not they can
divorce same-sex couples. Under current law, same-sex marriage has no
legal force in Ohio, but some judges think there’s enough room to allow
divorcing same-sex couples who got married outside the state.

The Ohio Republican Party is sending quite a few members
to the Republican Party’s national convention. National conventions are
when political parties announce presidential candidates and platforms.

Mother Jones debunked six myths about the U.S. education
system. In short, the system has improved in the past few decades,
especially in elementary and middle school, but high school education
needs some help.

New research shows that race does alter court sentences,
but incarceration rates vary from judge to judge. On average, black
defendants face an incarceration rate of 51 percent, while white
defendants face an incarceration rate of 38 percent. That’s a 13-point
gap, which researchers said is “substantial.”

Cincinnati organization gets grant money to combat homelessness

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that
grant money will go to a local organization to help homeless
youth. Some of the money, which is taken from the State Victims Assistance Act,
will go to Cincinnati-based Lighthouse Youth Services
(LYS) to help victims of domestic
violence, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth,
between the ages of 18 and 24.

"These kids don't have to live on the streets and wonder
every day where they'll be getting their next meal,” DeWine said in a
statement.

The grant money, which totals $430,000, will be shared
between the Cincinnati organization and The Next Step, another homeless
aid organization based in Geauga and Portage counties.

LYS, which helps about 2,200 people in the Greater Cincinnati area each day, will get $137,500 year per year for two years.
The money will primarily go to the Lighthouse on Highland facility, which is located in Clifton. Bob Mecum, CEO of
LYS, says the facility helps youth between the ages of 16 and 24 that
are typically victims of violence.

During the day, Lighthouse on Highland provides nursing,
showering, washing, food, shelter, computer and case-management
services. At night, the organization acts as a 28-bed shelter. On
the average day, the facility helps 10 to 30 people with its street
outreach services and 40 to 60 people with its on-site services. On the
typical night, 27 out of 28 beds are filled.

“Through this grant from the attorney general offices, the services out of the Highland location will be funded,” Mecum says.

On average, LGBT youth face greater homelessness rates.
Even though LGBT youth makes up only about 10 percent of the general
youth population, LGBT youth makes up about 20 percent of the homeless
youth population, according to the National Coalition of Homelessness.
LGBT youth are also twice as likely to experience sexual abuse by the
age of 12, and they’re about 7.4 times more likely to experience acts of
sexual violence than heterosexual youth.

The audio for the 911 call Councilmember Chris Seelbach made to report being assaulted has been released to the public. During the call, Seelbach admits to drinking alcohol that night. Apparently, people are shocked that Seelbach is a human being that drinks alcohol.

City Council voted yesterday to put a ballot initiative before voters that, if approved, would let councilmembers remain in power for four years, up from two years under current law. The initiative would let local policymakers worry more about passing good policy and less about getting reelected every other year.

City Council also approved an ordinance that bans wastewater injection wells, which are used to dispose of wastewater produced during fracking, within city limits. But the ordinance is little more than politics at this point, considering the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has received no permit requests for injection wells in southwestern Ohio, and ODNR spokesperson Heidi Hetzel-Evans says southwestern Ohio’s geology makes injection wells unfeasible.

There are more benefits to legalizing same-sex marriage than just giving a bunch of people basic rights without hurting anyone. A new study found that Ohio could gain $100-126 million in economic growth from same-sex marriage legalization. The study is being used by Freedom to Marry Ohio to promote the Freedom to Marry and Religious Freedom Amendment, which the organization hopes will be on the November 2013 ballot.

Comair Inc. disclosed that 1,194 employees will be losing their jobs when the airline halts operations on Sept. 29. The airline, which is owned by Delta, is headquartered at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Mayor Mark Mallory and local attorney Stan Chesley announced yesterday that 10 Cincinnati pools will remain open for one whole extra week — keeping them open until the beginning of the school year. Since the city can’t pay for the entire extra week, Chesley raised $25,000, which the Cincinnati Recreation Foundation matched with another $25,000, to keep the pools open. All pools but one will also have free admission for the rest of the year. The one exception is Otto Armleader Pool at Dunham, which will have $2 admission, down from $5.

In a surprising show of bipartisanship, the Ohio legislature and Gov. John Kasich passed the “second chance” law. The law will make it easier for convicted criminals to continue on with their lives after their time is served.

President Barack Obama was in Akron yesterday.Glenn Beck says he is planning a big event in Ohio for the week of Sept. 12. Beck is known for literally crying on national television and disapproving of most of what Obama does.